Top-ranked Alabama crushes Mississippi State, 51-3

Alabama coach Nick Saban held a film session with Jalen Hurts this week to point out a few things to his young quarterback.

Hurts was clearly paying attention.

The freshman passed for career highs of 347 yards and four touchdowns and rushed for 100 yards in less than three quarters in No. 1 Alabama’s 51-3 rout of Mississippi State on Saturday. It put on display the potential of a passing game that had lately seemed the closest thing to a weakness for the Crimson Tide.

The win — coupled with Auburn’s surprising loss at Georgia — also meant Alabama clinched the SEC West title.

Hurts’ prolific performance wiped out any concerns that the Tide (10-0, 7-0 Southeastern Conference, No. 1 CFP) would have a letdown after a bruising win at No. 19 LSU. Instead, Hurts turned in his best game and the defense denied Mississippi State (4-6, 2-4) the end zone on nine trips across midfield.

“It’s one of the things we’ve been wanting to do is try to develop some confidence in the passing game, and obviously he was able to do that very well today,” Saban said. “He got the ball to some of our playmakers down the field and they had opportunities to make big plays.”

Hurts is the first Alabama player to have 300 yards passing and 100 yards rushing in the same game, and he was flirting with both those milestones by halftime.

The Bulldogs had been riding high after an upset of No. 10 Texas A&M, but didn’t muster a threat in this one.

Hurts completed 28 of 37 passes and rushed for a fifth touchdown before being replaced by Cooper Bateman late in the third quarter. The big performance was marred by an interception and fumble, but the Tide’s dominating defense made sure the miscues didn’t matter too much.

“In practice, he’ll sling it,” Alabama guard Ross Piersbacher said. “It’s fun to see him do that in a game. I think that’s big for his confidence.”

ArDarius Stewart was the biggest beneficiary of the passing revival, scoring three touchdowns. Stewart gained 156 yards on eight catches, including a 67-yard sprint on a jet sweep.